Cutter-chain for mining-machines.



W. A. BUETTNER & A. $HELBURNE.

CUTTER CHAIN FOR MINING MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED 11111. 31, 1910.

1,()2.3,549..v Patnted Apr. 16, 1912.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIIIE WILLIAM A. BUETTNER AND ARTHUR SHELBUBNE, or 'rnniui HAUTE, INZQIANA;

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 16, 1912 Application filed January 31, 1910. Serial No. 541,045.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM A. BUE'rr- NER and ARTHUR SHELBURNE, citizens of the United States, residing at Terre Haute,

in the county of Vigo and State of Indiana,-

have invented a certain new and useful Cutter-Chain for Mining-Machines, of which the following is a specification.

In a chain cutter mining machine the cutting bits are carried upon an endless chain supported at the cutting point between a pair of idlers, the links of the chain having extending flanges which cooperate with guideways on the supporting structure. The chains commonly in use are composed of bit-carrying blocks which are connected by links each of which is provided at each end with an integral lug journaled within a cross opening formed through the bitcarrying block. The integral lugs of the connecting links are subjected to very considerable pressures and they cannot be too large because, if they are, the chains will be so strong as to be capable of standing stresses largely in excess of stresses which other portions of the machine are capable of standing and care is taken, in the design of such a chain, to make it sufliciently weak to break, by shearing off of the lugs of the connecting links, before the gearing and other portions of the machine can be injured. In such a chain it is found that the forward lugs of each link are worn upon their rear faces much more than the' rear lugs are worn and this is due to the fact that the chain is being pulled through the coal.

The object of our presentinvention is to produce a bit-carrying. chain capable of 'use in standard mining machines, and therefore exchangeable for chains now commonly in use, of a form so modified as to be capableof withstanding the objectionable wear above mentioned without, however, increasing the ultimate strength of the chain so that such chain may be used in standard and existing mining machines without liability of causing injury to such machines.

The accompanying drawings illustrate our invention.

Figure l is an elevatioh of a short section of our improved chain in'position over an idler; Fig. 2 an enlarged elevation of a. por tion of our improved chain running over a driver; Fig. 3 a horizontal section, and Fig. 4 an inner face elevation of one of the links. In the drawings, 10 indicates a bit-carrycoal cuttingbit in the usual manner. This block 10 has a total length exactly equalto the somewhat similar blocks now commonly in use in those chains for which the present chain is a substitute. 10 of our improved chain however difi'er materially from the common blocks. Our improved block 10 at one end is provided with a transverse opening 11 of ordinary size the center of-sald opening being upon the pitch circle 12 of the sprocket 13 when the block is in place upon the sprocket. At the opposite endblock 10 is provided with a transverse opening 14 which is considerably lar er in diameter than opening 11 and has its center brought as closely as possible to the pitch circle 12. This is accomplished by shifting the center of opening 1& toward the center of opening 11 by of links are associated with two adjacent blocks in the manner illustrated they will be held in place either by bolts or rivets 19 passed through the bores of the pins 17 and 18. As compared with a standard chain the links 1516 will have a length, between The" blocks centers of pins, slightly longer than has I heretofore been customary, this increase of length being due to the decrease in distance between the centers of the openings Hand 14; so that a chain is produced in which the distances between alternate centers are different instead of uniform, as has heretofore been the custom. By this arrangement it will be seen that the forward pins of each pair of links, and the corresponding opening in the rear of each bit-carrying block. are larger than the rear pins of each pair of links and consequently ofler, at this point of greater wear, increased frictional sur face so that the load is distributed, thereby producing a chain which will wear considerably longer than the standard chains now commonly in use. On the other hand it is to be noticed that, by retaining pins llllti a 11' of the same size as the pins of the stand ard chain,'the number of bit blocks in a chain is not increased or diminished and the ultimate strength of'the chain is not at 5 all increased because there will be one small pin 11 to each bit block. This will be the pin whichwill shear in the case of application of too great-resistance, the pin shearing before there can be any damage to the .10 driving gearing of the machine' This is important because, otherwise, the chain could not be substituted. for a'worn out chain in a standard mining .machine, of

which many are now in constant use. '1

'We' claimv as our invention 1. For combination with a standard cutter-chain-carrying sprocket wheel-of-mining machines, a bit-carrying chain comprising 'a plurality of bit blocks each of a length to fit between the teeth of saidsprocket wheel,

and a plurality of interspersed links connecting such bit blocks in spaced relation to permit such co -'action with the sprocket wheel, a pivotal connection between each link and the adjacent block, the pivotal connection between the rear end of each block and the forward'end of the associated 1' link being of greater diameter and having its center farther from the adjacent end of the block than the pivotal connection bctween the forward end of the block and the rear end-of the other associated link, the

' distance between the pivotal centers of each block being thus less than the distance between the pivotal centers: of each link, for

,.. the purpose set forth.

J 2: For""combination with a standard cutterch ain-carrying sprocket wheel of mining machines, abit-carrying chain comprising a plurality of bit blocks each of a length to fit between the teeth of said sprocket wheel and each having" a pair of transverse openin'gs formed therethrough' with the rear opening of larger diameter than 'the forward opening, a plurality of links connecting the several bit blocks for association with such sprocket wheel, each of said links comprising a pair of mating members each our hands and seals at Terre Haute, In-' di'ana, this 26th day of January, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and ten.

WILLIAM A. BUETINER. [41.3.] ARTHUR SHELBURNE. [Ls] lVitnesses: I

, E. JEwnLL,

' ALoNzo C. OwENs. 

